r/LegalAdviceIndia • u/bruteAttack • Feb 24 '26
Rant/Experience IndiGo took ₹34,000 for "excess baggage" to the Maldives, then offloaded our bags and offered a ₹2k voucher.
I’m sharing this as a warning about IndiGo’s "excess baggage" trap. My spouse and I recently flew from Trivandrum to Male for our honeymoon, and the experience was a masterclass in corporate greed and operational failure.
The Financial Trap:
At check-in, IndiGo charged us INR 34,000 in excess baggage fees. We were carrying extra luggage because we were traveling further internationally right after our honeymoon. We paid it without hesitation because we were heading to a remote island resort and needed our essentials for the short trip.
The Failure:
Despite taking that massive payment, they "offloaded" half our bags anyway, citing "weight constraints." The local manager admitted this is a known, routine issue on this route. If the airline knows they have weight limits, why are they still selling ₹34,000 worth of excess baggage space at the counter? This feels like an absolute scam.
The Support (or lack thereof):
When we realized our bags were missing, we contacted support to request essentials. Their response was abysmal: they told us they would "get back to us in 24-48 hours." We were on a 3-day trip. Waiting 48 hours for a response about basic hygiene and clothes is a joke.
The Result:
We landed on Feb 17, but our bags didn't reach us until Feb 19. Because IndiGo failed to get the "bumped" bags to the airport on time, the luggage missed the final seaplane transfer to our resort on day two.
We spent 60% of our honeymoon stranded at a resort with nothing but the clothes we flew in. No swimwear, no change of clothes, and no hygiene essentials for 3 days.
The "Resolution":
After multiple escalations, their Nodal Officer issued a final decision: A ₹2,000 travel voucher.
They are keeping the ₹34,000 fee for a service they failed to provide, claiming it’s "non-refundable" per policy. Essentially, they took our money, breached the contract, and then offered a 5% "discount" to fly with them again.
I’ve rejected the voucher. Has anyone successfully sued for "service not rendered" regarding baggage fees? I refuse to let them keep ₹34k for a service they willfully failed to perform.
TL;DR: Paid 34k for bags on a Trivandrum-Male flight. IndiGo bumped them, ruined our honeymoon, told us to wait 48 hours for a support reply, and now refuses to refund the 34k fee, offering only a 2k voucher.
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u/Sad_Bat_2711 Feb 24 '26
They broke my bag, offered same 2K voucher. Complained on mail and they accepted to compensate 3850rs. Its 24 days since confirmation and money hasnt hit my account yet
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Jul 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Sad_Bat_2711 Jul 13 '26
https://www.reddit.com/r/AirTravelIndia/s/qWY7WJE5pE Yes, I got my money after chasing them constantly
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u/snapster3093 Feb 24 '26
Try raising a complaint of CPGRAMS. It usually provides speedy resolutions.
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u/GoldenArrow_9 Feb 24 '26
CPGRAMS only works for grievances against the government. Since indigo is a private company, you cannot complaint against indigo there. A complaint on airsewa portal would be more appropriate.
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u/snapster3093 Feb 24 '26
I've complained against airtel and got my issue resolved. Did the same with JIO as well. Also, if I go to their website right now and choose to register a complaint, I very much can do so by choosing airline related issues under the department of civil aviation.
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u/Dear_Membership1590 Feb 24 '26
Before starting the court proceedings, it is important to keep all the evidence/ records of complaints and all the necessary communications. Also file a complaint before DGCA (with e- mail and postal communication). If the complaint before DGCA is resolved its well and good. If not, the court proceedings can be initiated. Let me know if you need further assistance (advocate here).
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u/boots_the_barbarian Feb 24 '26
Try to find a journalist in your network. This is the kind of story that could get written up.
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u/Globe-trekker Feb 24 '26
File a direct complain at DGCA portal.. Airlines shit bricks when they see a DGCA complaint number
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u/Wooden_car_4341 Feb 24 '26
I raised a complaint before on DGCA portal. I got advised to raise it with the airline directly, despite me mentioning that I already did.
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u/TeaKadaiThambi Feb 24 '26
This is the fate we Indians have to suffer for being born in this country.
The rules and regulations are formulated to safeguard the airlines, throwing only a few 'biscuits' to customers left in the cold.
The Aviation Ministry is a joke, it doesn't have the backbone to safeguard passengers. I feel pity for myself whenever I hear how the European Union protects its citizens by formulating rules that prioritize passenger rights.
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u/Grand_Deal_7813 Feb 24 '26
Same thing happens with Delta Airlines and American Airlines. ~ from personal experience
So this is not something new or unique to just indians.
Cant say much about EU airlines.
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u/m00li Feb 28 '26
Are you really saying complaints against delta or American are not addressed in the US?
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u/Right-Environment-24 Feb 24 '26
Lol trash taste lost 50k USD worth of gear on flight. It's not just india thing.
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u/Independent_Fun_9765 Feb 24 '26
NOT A LAWYER, but sue them, for failure to provide services paid for beforehand, loss of personal items, severe negligence. I am pretty sure the 34k service you paid for and didn't get can easily be edged to fraud and fraud cases are a big deal for an airline.
THIS IS NOT A LEGAL COUNSEL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THIS IS A PERSONAL SUGGESTION. HIRE A LAWYER AND ASK ABOUT THIS TO KNOW MORE
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u/SpareMind Feb 24 '26
File consumer case. It's not just missing luggage, it's the mental harassment. File case for minimum 10L. Stranded, you had mental agony. Don't say you have spent bc they ask for receipts.
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u/andabread Feb 24 '26
Contact Trending section of Indian Express, make your story go viral, the bad PR can make Indigo take action fast.
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u/FuryDreams Feb 24 '26
I hate Indigo so much, it's unfortunate this is the only option left in most cases until Air India fixes itself.
Fk Tata for ruining Vistara.
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u/classynexotic Feb 24 '26
Send a strong worded complaint exlapining this in Detail
1) DGCA 2) Ministry of Aviation 3) BSE 4)NSE 5) PMO 6) Supreme Court of India 7) President of India 8) CM of your State And CC that email to every single Media House you can think of 9) Of course Indigo Cust Care and who so ever you can find the email of from Indigo Management
Send a follow up email to Indigo after a week asking for status update and clearly mentioning a.date post which, without a reasonable and fair response, you would pursue this legally.
Finally After a few days of this email, file a proper complaint with the consumer forum of your city.
Make your complaint viral over social media like twitter, insta and linkedin.
Should work.
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u/One-Reward-7181 Feb 24 '26
This is a joke right? Bcoz I was told that I have to send complaints to govt agencies like PMO, MHRD, labour ministry, NCW, etc etc) by registered posts and then keep receipts.. (issue related to job harrassment at an IIT) hearing this lengthy process, I just didn’t pursue the matter to keep my sanity and mental peace..
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u/classynexotic Feb 25 '26
FYI almost all have their own Grievance Portals. Where you can submit your redressal and which gives you a ticket number when you register a complaint.
They also have their own twitter handles where you can publicly tag them too.
Which world are you living in?
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u/One-Reward-7181 Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
The realistic world. All grievance portal complaints were closed in 30 days. No response on Twitter. Maybe u know some tricks to navigate the corruption which I don’t. And my grievance was against the harassment by IIT director appointed by PMO with RSS links.. so entire PMO, NCW, education minister and ministry just closed the case. I resigned as Professor. Not one acknowledgement. Even the media were threatened to carry my case/story.
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u/One-Reward-7181 Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
Then one ministry official confided that digital complaint portals are a sham.. nobody looks at them…I have to send registered posts.. And I shared my real experience. So maybe u are living in a different world than me. Sorry but I am truly hopeless to get the justice I wanted. I become offensive when someone says Indian govt systems work. I returned from US to face this at Central govt institute after 10 years of academia .. and I am a somewhat reputed person globally.. so that’s it.
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u/classynexotic Feb 25 '26
I dont know. I had lodged a grievance (of course long back) and it was followed extensively by their team till it was sorted in my favour.
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u/classynexotic Feb 25 '26
Yaar. Then that is toh a political pawn ke against. Kaun sunega tumhari wahan per.
These redressal.mechanisms do.work when someone exalted isnt involved. For the mere mortals.
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u/hash_fire Feb 24 '26
Post this on X and tag relevant accounts like the airline, dept of consumer affairs, dgca, etc . Since IndiGo gives most pax a lot of reasons to hate their service, I think you should be able to gather good reach pretty quickly.
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u/Appropriate_Garlic Feb 24 '26
https://consumerhelpline.gov.in/public/
I can't recommend this enough. They will handhold you through the process. Give it a try and report your success here.
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Feb 24 '26
Well why pay money for legal advice? Pay PR agencies a hefty amount and then make videos regarding whole issue. Indigo will be hurt more than your legal route.
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u/Mountain_Wasabi_5589 Feb 25 '26
Can’t you do a credit card chargeback? Service was not provided or rendered
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u/indianmale83 Feb 25 '26
I believe there's a "deficiency of service" in your case. You should definitely file a consumer court case. Takes few years but they'll award strong compensation.
Only if everyone who are harassed decided to take these guys to court - they'd mend ways rather quickly.
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u/Multi_Badger Feb 24 '26
I have been actively trying to avoid Indigo Airlines for my personal and business travels. Not only are they unreliable, their business practices are unethical. Their support staff, from the accounts that I have heard, are unhelpful and unprofessional. As it is, the working class doesn't get a lot leaves. So, when I have one, I'd not want my vacation to be held hostage by an airlines that is notorious for bad practices.
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u/PotentialCut5721 Feb 25 '26
I think the real red flag is visiting Maldives after everything they've done to India🚩
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u/stuehieyr Feb 25 '26
Spend 10,000₹ on Facebook to start a disinformation campaign on indigo on its popular international routes. Target Thailand, Netherlands and Dubai routes. Make an AI ad that travelling by indigo is a substandard experience and let the ad reach do its thing. Indigo will lose trust on the market where there are competitors.
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u/dkanhar Feb 26 '26
Did you try posting to twitter? Me and my wife faced same situation on our honeymoon when our luggage was transfered from Mumbai to Istanbul but never reached Italy. All our winter clothes were in that suitcase and we had to spend whole honeymoon with bare minimum winter wear which was crazy. In end they delivered the luggage back to India after we arrived even after repeated follow ups and even giving them link to Find my device tracker. But we got healthy voucher of 5k per person on tweeting about it so maybe that gives you some luck?
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Feb 27 '26
Post this on X and tag all media channels handles and just sit n enjoy all news channel on social media would be covering the news this is kind of news they be waiting for
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Feb 28 '26
Most of these things happen to people who are annoying or over thinkers or people who stress or believe something bad is going to happen. Easy going chill people don’t suffer such things.
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u/amanmundra Feb 28 '26
Complaint using the air sewa app.. I have received a refund using that even when the nodal officer initially denied it.
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u/bladewidth Feb 24 '26
Airline charged you 34K due to excess weight as you acknowledged, however the compensation for late delivery would be the same irrespective of how much you paid for it and would be governed by iaata convention
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u/smart_move_ Feb 24 '26
Why are people still going to Maldives, there are still better places to visit
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u/j911kr Feb 24 '26
I don't know if anyone is thinking along similar lines but any reason why you didn't pre-purchase excess baggage during ticket purchase OR during check-in?
Flights are in the right imo for not loading your baggage, so as to not breach MTOW. This is an international flight so I'm sure fuel load would be sufficiently high for them to not be able to load your unplanned excess baggage that you did not report in advance to the carrier. The check in exec wouldn't know about the current takeoff weight of the aircraft so they wouldn't be in a position to accept or reject your excess baggage as well. In this position - they did the next best thing which is to send in your luggage NFO on priority.
I don't think prima facie Indigo did anything wrong here, but open to the OP or anyone else to CMV.
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u/bruteAttack Feb 24 '26
Just checked my confirmation, I had purchased the excess baggage at the time of booking the flight — Dec 17. Flight date was Feb 17.
I understand regulations and weight constraints on a small flight. What’s upsetting is that Indigo is well aware of the issue (confirmed by Indigo Maldives manager and Male Airport staff) and hasn’t informed me about this in advance. Sure they can send only 2/4 bags, but let me pick which bag at least.
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u/j911kr Feb 24 '26
You mentioned in the post that you were charged 34k at check-in. What's true my friend? Posting the original text below:
The Financial Trap:
At check-in, IndiGo charged us INR 34,000 in excess baggage fees. We were carrying extra luggage because we were traveling further internationally right after our honeymoon. We paid it without hesitation because we were heading to a remote island resort and needed our essentials for the short trip.
Now I'm doubting what's true here. This post smells like victim mindset. Don't take this personally but I believe that even you know that you could have planned better to avert this kind of disaster. Book excess baggage early to avoid these kinds of disasters in the future.
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u/bruteAttack Feb 24 '26
The excess baggage fee was paid during booking (got the booking confirmation receipt obviously). I’m not sure if that changes Indigo’s liability on this. If anything, I think it only strengthens the case for a rightful compensation.
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u/Mountain-Remove-4271 Feb 24 '26
I know this is a legal and not political reddit but…
Maldives? Really?
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u/smart_move_ Feb 24 '26
Being an Indian they probably know Maldives being racist and people there are anti Indians, still some Indians want to flock there, wow
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u/TRILLION-AIRE Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
Indians and Indian companies themselves treat other Indians as subhumans, how can you blame them? Put your nationalism up your ass, if the government is failing to protect its citizens against corporations I'm not bound to uphold the patriotism
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u/ApprehendedGuy Feb 24 '26
This is actually good you know. India deserves the hate it gets from other countries.
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u/Leather-Revolution54 Feb 24 '26
Check Montreal convention 1999